New Terminator Films (Finally) Coming

It's taken a year and a half of negotiating, but Annapurna Pictures' Megan Ellison has closed a deal with Pacificor to acquire the rights to The Terminator series. The plan is to make a new group of movies, with Ellison's brother David now set to co-produce the films through his Skydance Productions. The rights also include potential TV projects, home entertainment, merchandise and video games, according to The Wrap.

Deadline notes that "the big numbers in place 18 months ago have been adjusted downward" -- referring to the over $20 million that Megan Ellison pledged for the rights 18 months ago. This is because new copyright laws mean that the North American rights to The Terminator could revert back to creator James Cameron in 2019 (35 years after Terminator's 1984 release). The final amount paid by Ellison's company has not been disclosed.

"While that law hasn’t been tested in the courts, no major film company would want to move forward on a project with a potentially catastrophic rights crisis looming," says the site. "So the original pricey deal -- made with the expectations there would be three films -- was scaled down because the reality is they might only get to make two installments [before 2019]."

In any event, the teaming of the two Ellison siblings is interesting. Megan is known for more highbrow, albeit mainstream, fare such as The Master and the (freaking awesome) Zero Dark Thirty, while David and Skydance have been behind pictures like Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and Star Trek Into Darkness. Terminator certainly seems to be more in line with Skydance's style.

As for what the new films will be about, all that is known is the Ellisons are "starting from scratch as they seek out a screenwriter to plot the end." But who are they kidding? The Terminator story will never end!